Hose-coupling.



omino Speiicationof Letters Patent;

Patented Novt '2,Y 19ml Application filed January 20, 1908. Seriel No. lll.

To ell,Y whom 'it may romero:

Be it known thatJ L JOHN E. vWARn, e eitizenof the UnitettStartes, and a resident of' the borough of Btfznfihattesa1 of the city of New York1 in the county anti State of New York, have matie certain new and' useful Improvements in Hose-Couplings, of which the 'following is a specicatien, reference being had ,to the accompanying drawings, forming a, part hereof. A

A common way of fastening at gasket in the head of a. coupling has been to provide n spring which could be pressed into the opening in the heed anti ittetl upon e shoulder therein.v the ends ofthe springengaging the gasket by heilig inserted into perfor?.- tions in e central metallic thiinble which ormetl a frame for the body or softer portion of the gasket. lVith such e construetion'7 the steam or other Huid use in the system upon diioh the coupler was instzille, would leak ont through theY perforations itt the tliimble and woulrl permeate and soon destroyY the body portion of the gasket.

One object ot this invention, accordingly, has been to provide e construction in which Stroh a spring retainer could be ernployeei to' hold the gasket within the coupling heznl without the aecompirnying dis-fielvsintage referred to,

Anothernobiect of the invention has been to improve the forni of the retaining spring'. rlhis spring should have such fiexibillty as aI Whole as will enable it to he comparotively easy of insertion into the coupler ande withdrawal therefrom, endY such flexibility must, so to speak, have its center at such a; point in the spring that the en's thereotL wil not be liable to pull out ofthe gasket during its insert-ien or withdrawal; more:

over,n the spring must have stieient re siliency and must beY constructed to properly engage in the head of the gasket in order to hohl the gasket well down thereupon. It has been sought thereforeV to provide e spring embodying ell of these characteristlcs.

-Still another object of the invention has been to improve the construction ofwhztt are referred to in the art as oseillating gas kots. As these gaskets have been eonstrieted heretofore, one face-*Was rounded to t a corresponding socket in the coupling heeel. While such n gasket will oseillateV freely when new, the oontiniied use thereof will canse the edge around the contacting face of the gasket,V that is the tiet face which shuts against the corresponding of the coop existing gasket, to spread; or expendL either from compression er weer'.Y The resut is oo that the gasket is prevented from oscillating at all on account of its bulging erige whieh lnekes it too large for it to swing about freely in its socket in the corresponding head. This ditienlty; is overconrein aceorrL once with the present invention byL providing the socket in the gasket and forming within n seat in the coupling head a suiti able rounded or convex portion upon which the gasket is reoeivett :ind can swing and twist freely even thoirgh the edge of its contacting face may bulge through oontinued use.

All of the tentures of the invention will be more fully explained hereinafter' with reference toE the zrctnnpe ng ing drawing in which.

Figure l is e vieniY pnrtlvL in section anni partly in elevation o one of the iinproveel gaskets. Figs 2 anti 3 are Simiisr views, i Figi 2 showin the body portion ofthe gesketornie o two tii'fi'lereirt ni-.tteriilsV intl Fig. 3 sliowiiigetlie invention applied to the old ornr of' osoillziting gesketl Figs. 4, 5 and G ere similar views showing digen-ent i torres of the improved retaining spring. Eig. 7 is zr similar View showing the iin- ;provecl forni of oseillating gasket together with e portion otY the coupler lies-1i, finti', Figi is a s'nniiar view showing the im-V proved form of oscillating gasket in connectionvvith e cli'erent torni of fastening (levies therefor partienlirrijf to Fig, l, it eviti loe seen that the gasket comprises essentzrltjr two parte, en inner ralne portions, gerierzrlly ofY metal, and an outer inm'n or hotly e ooi-tion f which is relatively softer than the inner freine portion or thimble e. The re- Vtsining spring p1, as shown in Fig, lf, in e 95 general Way resembles the shape of tlie letter W end its free ends are inserteel in recesses f formed diametrically opposite each other in the thimble e. These recesses, as will be seen, @lo not perforete the thimlle 195 e but extend only part weytliroirgh the saine so that it vviil be impossible for the steam pressure to leak ont by Way of the. reoessesr i from the coupler heed and thus to permeate YVthe structure of the body portion f oit the im cesses r, it is preferable to make the part "of the thimble in which these recesses are formed a little thicker in order that a substantial recess may be iliade to receive the ends of the spring p, such thickened portion or portions of the frame or thimble serving to hold the body of the gasket more securely thereto.l

Upon comparing Fig. `7, it will be seen that the insertion and withdrawal of the fastening spring p through the opening s in the coupler head t necessitates the compression of the spring to some extent and it will be understood that the compression of this spring during its insertion and withdrawal must take place without pulling the free ends of the spring out of the recesses 1' in the thimble e. It is desirable therefore that the center of exibility of the spring .shall be as far away as possible from the free ends thereof so that the movement of these ends in the recesses as the spring is bent shall be as slight as possible.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 different forms of re-A taining springs are shown in which the center of flexibility is practically at a portion of the spring farthest away from the free ends of the spring. In Fig. 4 the spring has a V-shape, the center of flexibility beving at the apex of the V. In this spring the upper ends of the V are bent inwardly to form surfaces u which bear upon the shoulder fu (Fig. 7) of the coupler to retain the gasket in position, and then outwardly to engage in the recesses in the thimble e. In Fig. 6 a similar spring is shown with a turn at the bottom or apex, the center of flexibility being at the turn. In Fig. 5 a U-shaped spring is shown, in which the center of flexibility is well away from the free ends of the spring, but the V-shaped springs arev considered preferable.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be seen that an oscillating gasket is shown in which i one face of the gasket is cutaway to tit upon a corresponding convexity w formed within a seat le in the coupler head. This seat lc is of a larger diameter than the diameter of the gasket so that the gasket can move freely therein and twist and turn about as circumstances shall determine upon the convex portion w. In practice it is found that continued wear and compresslon upon the gasket tend to distort theprelatively soft body portion f thereof so that the edges or periphery Z around the contacting face of the gasket expand or spread whereby an oscillating gasket such as is shown in Fig.

3, for instance, would be prevented from oscillating in a closely fitting socket in the coupling head. In Fig. 8 a gasket similar to that of Fig. 7 is shown but the retaining means consists of a split ring a having short resilient retaining clips b, such ring being' inserted within an annular recess in the gasket. The ring fits'freely in the recess and permits the gasket to oscillate as it should.

It will be understood that the different features of the inventionrnay be used Separately and in other combinations than those illustrated and described herein.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a gasket for hose couplings and the like, the combination of an outer body portion, an inner frame portion, and a fastening spring to secure the gasket in a coupling, the frame being formed with a thick- -ened portion having closed recesses to receive the end of the sprin and saidthickened portion serving to ho d the frame and body of the gasket the more securely together.

2. In a gasket for hose couplings and the like, the combination of an outer body portion, an inner frame portion, and a V-shaped fastening spring to secure the gasket in a coupling, the frame being formed with a thickened portion having closed recesses to receive the end of the spring and said thickened portion serving to holdthe frame and body of the gasket the more securely together. v

3. In a gasket for hose couplings andthe like, the combination of an outer body portion, an inner frame pmrtion, and a V-shaped fastening spring having a loop therein to secure the gasket in a coupling, the frame being formed with a thickened portion having closed` recesses to receive the end of the spring and said thickened portion serving to hold the frame and, body of the gasket the more securely together.

This specification signed and witnessed this 13th day of January, A. D., 1908.

JOHN E. WARD.

Signed in the presence f- LUoIUs E. VARNEY, MARJoRm RoLLINs. 

